Archive for the ‘art’ Category

[Editor’s note: Op-Art from the New York Times showing who (which states) supports and opposes health care reform grouped by age and income. Data from 2004, so not current but still informative. Thanks Martin!]

[Editor’s note: VladStudio has some great map-themed desktop images. This new project was inspired from airplane moving maps but instead of showing the big metros emphasizes tiny settlements and Vlad dedicates it to Antoine de Saint Exupéry. Thanks Curt!]

[Editor's note: My colleague Patterson Clark has a new science column in the redesigned print edition that features a weekly graphic. Last week it was on frost heaves using cross section profiles in 3 panels.]

Weather conditions have been favorable for the formation of frost heaves: Heavy rainfall and melting snow from the last week of December, followed by a long bout of freezing weather, created dynamic subsurface freezing that lifted some exposed soils up onto a bed of sharp ice crystals. (Looks spongy; feels crunchy underfoot.).

Frost heaves can damage soil structures, making soils more prone to erosion. Heaves can also lift overwintering plants out of the ground, breaking roots and exposing the roots to freezing temperatures. Heaves can also shift, and possibly damage, fence posts, sidewalks or other structures set into the top couple of feet of earth.

[Editor's note: China's government censoreship and web practices have been in the news this week after Google threatened to pull out of the country. This map / tag cloud / art piece highlights forbidden topics and websites inside China. Thanks Curt!]

[Editor’s note: “A rare, 400-year-old map that displays China at the center of the world will be on exhibit at the Library of Congress from Jan. 12 to April 10 2010, before it is digitized and then heads to its intended home at the James Ford Bell Library at the University of Minnesota. If you haven’t checked our Ricci in China, it’s a fascinating time period in the history of cartography. Thanks Curt and Mary Kate!]

TRADITIONAL WEDDING: South African President Jacob Zuma, 67, left, sang and danced in traditional Zulu attire with his new wife, Thobeka Madiba, 38, during a traditional wedding ceremony to formalize the marriage in Nkandla Monday. Ms. Madiba, the polygamous president’s third wife, is already married to Mr. Zuma under South African law. (Rajesh Jantilal/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images)

[Editor’s note: Beautiful map of a blue and red circulation system stretching across the United States with the heart located at Washington, D.C. Selected by a lefty advocacy group as part of their media campaign during the ongoing health care debate. Thanks Laris!]

Public Option Please, a lefty advocacy group, set out to find a poster artist who could dramatize their argument for government-funded health care. Judges (including Arianna Huffington and Jesse Dylan) found not just a poster artist but a poster girl for their cause. Their winner, Amy Martin of Los Angeles, created her striking image of red and blue blood vessels coursing through a map of the United States when she was home sick with the flu, and a few weeks later, organizers said, lost her job and health insurance. “A healthy United States is dependent on healthy American citizens — which is why I presented America as a vulnerable living system.” She’ll spend her $1,000 winnings on insurance premiums, they said.

[Editor's note: I created these three tag clouds to represent the responses to a national poll conducted for The Washington Post. Respondents chose 1 word to represent the Republican party. The words are all on the same type size scale in each of the 3 clouds. The position of the same words also needed to be consistent between clouds (ie: Palin in the upper left). Obviously the Republicans are on message about being conservative. Created with a custom script in Illustrator. Arranged by hand.]